Beverage container



14, 1967 l, J. PROKES ETAL 3,303,985

BEVERAGE CONTAINER Filed July 6, 1965 [.22 v ER in rs mw/v (1 PEOA/ES mom/1s M. arm 5:

United States Patent 3,303,985 BEVERAGE CONTAINER Irvin J. Prokes, 22 Northgate Road, Riverside, Ill. 60546, and Thomas M. Dwyer, 10747 Mason, Chicago Ridge, Ill. 60415 Filed July 6, 1965, Ser. No. 469,445 4 Claims. (Cl. 229-7) This invention relates to disposable beverage dispensing containers. More particularly, it relates to such containers which include a sipping straw for removal of the contained beverage.

In recent years, the vending of beverages such as milk, juices or other consumable liquids has become increasingly popular. Vending machines have become commonplace in schools, cafeterias, factories, ofiices and enumerable other locations where individuals might be interested in obtaining liquid refreshment.

Characteristically, the dispensing of beverages of the type described has been accomplished by the provision of machines which dispense sealed disposable containers within which are contained a quantity of the desired liquid. In this manner, the dispensed liquid may be placed in the container under sanitary conditions at a central packaging location and retained in the container until dispensed to the consumer.

Generally, the containers used are made of paper coated with certain materials to make them impervious to liquid. These coatings range from parafiin to plastic impregnation and in addition to their liquid impervious characteristics often provide the means for sealing the formed carton into its final sealed configuration. The container is generally provided with a sealed aperture for access to the contained beverage. Generally, this sealed aperture is opened and the contents poured from the container, or a drinking straw is inserted into the container to remove the contents.

In the past, there have also been devised cartons which have drinking straws therein, which may be removed from the container, by a telescoping action and the like. All of these containers have, however, been unsatisfactory, for one reason or another.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved disposable container which includes a drinking straw for removing the contained beverage.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved carton of the type described which is easily constructed and assembled.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a beverage container which includes a drinking straw which allows consumption of the contained beverage in a more sanitary manner than hereinbefore possible.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an improved carton of the type described which may be formed of two separable parts, at least one of which can be folded fiat for storing, or shipping.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a container exemplary of a first embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view, on a reduced scale, of a blank from which the container of FIGS. 1 and 6 may be formed;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view illustrating the straw retainer within the container of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the container of FIG. 1, taken along lines 44; FIGURE 5 is a partial view of the container of FIG. 1, illustrating the attachment of tear strip and the drinking straw;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a container exemplary of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 7 is a partial sectional view illustrating the construction of the side walls of the container of FIG. 6 and the straw retainer formed therein; and

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view of the container of FIG. 6 taken along lines 6-6.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing. i Referring now to the drawing, in FIG. 1 there is shown a disposable beverage container 10, constructed in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention, which may be fabricated of paper or the like and which may be coated with a material such as paraflin to make it im pervious to liquid. The container 10, with the exception of the top 12 therefor, may be formed from the blank 14 shown in FIG. 2. The blank 14 when folded in the manner hereinafter described, forms the bottom and side walls of the carton 10 and a straw retainer 38 interiorly thereof.

The blank 14 has a vertically disposed score line 23 and a horizontally disposed score line 27 which divide the blank into a side wall section 16, a straw retainer sec tion 18 and a bottom wall section 19. The side wall section 16 and the bottom wall section 19 have equally spaced, vertically disposed score lines 23-26 formed thereon and the straw retainer section 18 has vertically disposed, equally spaced score lines 20-22 formed thereon. Score lines 28-31 are formed on the bottom wall section 19 diagonally from the score lines 23-24 and 25-26 respectively.

The score lines 23-26 form side walls 32-35, and also the bottom walls 43-46, for the carton 10, while the score lines 20-22 form walls 38-41 for the straw retainer 37. The carton 10, as best seen in FIG. 2, is formed by first folding the straw retainer section 18 along the score lines 20-23 so that the walls 38-41 are at right angles to one another, with the side wall 38 fixedly secured, by means of adhesive or the like, to the side wall 32, and by folding the side wall section 16 along the score lines 24-26 so that the side walls 32-35 are at right angles to one another, with the side wall 35 fixedly secured, by means of adhesive or the like, to the wall 41 of the straw retainer 37. It may be noted that the wall 41 extends the length of the side walls 32-35 of the carton 10, while the walls 38-40 are only approximately one-third the length of these side walls 32-35 and the wall 41 and preferably are equally centered between the upper and lower edges of the blank 14. With this construction, a sturdy, well sealed carton is provided since the side wall 35 and the wall 41 are adhesively sealed to one another along the entire length of the carton so that there is little, if any, likelihood of leakage. Also, since the walls 38-46 are only one-third the length of the side walls 32-35 and wall 41, substantial economic savings are provided.

The bottom wall of the carton 10 is formed by folding the bottom walls 43-46 along the score lines 28-31, in the well known manner, so that they overlap one another, as shown in FIG. 4, to provide a sealed, leakproof bottom wall.

When the carton 10 is constructed in the above described manner, it can be folded flat, and a number of them stacked one atop another, for shipping or storage. Also, the straw retainer 37 within the carton 10 is automatically erected when the carton 10 is unfolded so that substantial savings in time and money are provided in erecting the carton 10.

The top cover 12 for the carton has a top wall 50 and four side walls (only two of which are shown which are formed to overlap the side Walls 3235, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 4. An elongated, diagonally disposed slot 52 is formed in the top wall 50, and a tear strip 54 which is sufiiciently larger in size so as to completely seal the slot 52. Tear strip 54 is sealed by means of adhesive or the like, to the top wall 50, over the slot 52. The end 56 of the tear strip 54 is not completely sealed to the top wall 50 so that the end can be easily turned up and gripped to pull the tear strip 54 back toward the corner of the carton.

Beneath the tear strip 54 is a retainer 58, best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, which is fixedly secured to the tear strip and which is adapted to securely retain a drinking straw 60. The drinking straw 60 is pleated as at 62 so that it can be folded at a substantially right angle, without crimping it shut, and its end passed through and retained in the straw retainer 37 within the carton 10. The top cover 12, with the drinking straw 60 and the tear strip 54, can be preformed and easily assembled onto the carton, by merely inserting the end of the straw 60 through the straw retainer 37 and its depending walls secured to the side walls 3235, in any suitable manner.

When a party desires to remove the contents of the container 10, the loose end 56 of the tear strip 54 is pulled upward and toward the corner of the carton 10. As the tear strip 54 is pulled in the above manner, the portion of the drinking straw 60 attached thereto is extracted from the carton and pulled upwardly, as shown in FIG. 5. The portion of the tear strip nearest the exposed end of the drinking straw is folded out of the way, and the contents removed by sipping on the straw without the necessity of touching the portion of the straw which is placed to the lips during the extracting procedure. By tilting the container 10 so that the contents flow toward the corner in which the straw is re tained, substantially all of the contents can be easily removed.

In FIG. 6 there is shown a container 70 having a top cover 72 which is secured to the rest of the container after it is erected, in the same manner as described above. The top cover 72 has a top wall 74 in which there is formed an elongated slot 76, extending longitudinally across it, parallel to, and substantially closer to one of its side edges. A tear strip 77 is sealed across the slot 76, and may be overlapped on each side of the carton, as shown in FIG. 8. The overlapped edge 79 is preferably "folded outward so that the end of the tear strip can be easily gripped with the fingers and pulled upwardly and toward the opposite edge of the carton, in a manner described above. The carton 70, in this case, is formed from a blank which is substantially the same as the blank 14, except section 19 is not used, section 41 is the same length as section 3840, section 35 has an additional portion'90 as shown in phantom lines which attaches to the wall 12, and the score lines forming the side walls are formed thereon in a manner such that when folded, the straw retainer 78 is disposed between the edges of one side of the carton 70 and the side walls overlap and are secured, as shown in FIG. 7. A separate bottom wall 80 is provided, and is retained by crimping the side walls as at 82 to secure the bottom wall within the carton. In this embodiment, the straw 84 is affixed directly to the tear strip 17 as by an adhesive thus eliminating the need of a retainer 58.

To remove the contents of the carton, the tear strip 77 is pulled, in the manner described above, and in so doing, the straw with the hands during extraction from the the new straw with the hands during extraction from the container.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are etficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the' scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying'drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Now that the invention has been described, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A two piece container having side walls, a bottom wall and straw retainer means formed from a single blank of sheet material, said blank being folded along score lines formed thereon to form said straw retainer means in one corner of said container, said straw retainer means having four walls, one of which is secured to a side wall of said container so as to form a substantially square shaped straw receiving aperture between said four walls, and folded along score lines to form at least four side walls for said carton, one of which is secured to a second one of said walls of said straw retainer means, said side walls being folded along score lines to form a closed bottom wall; and a top cover having a top wall and side walls adapted to be secured to the side walls of said container to form a closed container adapted to retain a quantity of liquid, said top wall having an elongated slot formed therein which extends diagonally from one corner thereof, a removable tear strip secured to said top wall overlying said slot, a drink ing straw having a portion thereof secured to said tear strip and a second portion retained within said straw retaining means, said tear strip upon being pulled toward one end of said slot partially removing said drinking straw from within said container, whereby said drinking straw is usable to remove said liquid from said container.

2. A container having side walls, a top wall and a bottom wall which are adapted to retain a quantity of liquid, said top wall having an elongated slot formed therein which extends diagonally from one of its corners, a tear strip removably secured to said top wall overlying said slot, straw retaining means integrally formed within said container adjacent one end of said slot, said straw retaining means having four side walls, one of which is integrally attached to one side wall of said container and another one of which is secured to the same side wall so as to form a generally square opening for receiving the end of a drinking straw therein, one side wall 'of said container being secured to the wall of said container to which said straw retainer means is integrally attached to secure said container in assembled (fashion, a drinking straw having a portion thereof secured to said tear strip and a second portion retained within said straw retaining means, said tear strip upon being pulled toward one end of said slot partially removing said drinking straw from within said container, whereby said drinking straw is usable to remove said liquid from said container.

3. A container, as claimed in claim 2, wherein four of the walls of said straw retaining means are substantially shorter in length than the length of the side walls of said container.

4. A container having side walls, a top wall and a bottom wall which are adapted to retain a quantity of liquid, said top wall having an elongated slot formed therein which extends parallel to two of its edges, a tear strip removably secured to said top wall overlying said slot, straw retaining means formed within said container adjacent one end of said slot, said straw retaining means having four side walls, one of which is integrally secured to one side wall of said container and another one of which is secured to the same side wall so as to form an opening between said four side walls for receiving the end of a drinking straw therein, one side wall of said container being overlapped and secured to secure said container in assembled fashion, a drinking straw having a portion thereof secured to said tear strip and a second portion retained within said straw retaining means, said tear strip upon being pulled toward one end of said slot partially removing said drinking straw from within said container, whereby said drinking straw is usable to remove said liquid from said container.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,547,362 4/1951 Berry 2297 2,838,220 6/ 1958 Oppenheimer 2297 2,949,217 8/1960 Pugh 22917 3,134,530 5/1964 Chang 2297 3,184,134 5/1965 Cohen 2297 3,240,415 3/ 1966 Pugh 2297 GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner. 

1. A TWO PIECE CONTAINER HAVING SIDE WALL, A BOTTOM WALL AND STRAW RETAINER MEANS FORMED FROM A SINGLE BLANK OF SHEET MATERIAL, SAID BLANK BEING FOLDED ALONG SCORE LINES FORMED THEREON TO FORM SAID STRAW RETAINER MEANS IN ONE CORNER OF SAID CONTAINER, SAID STRAW RETAINER MEANS HAVING FOUR WALLS, ONE OF WHICH IS SECURED TO A SIDE WALL OF SAID CONTAINER SO AS TO FORM A SUBSTANTIALLY SQUARE SHAPED STRAW RECEIVING APERTURE BETWEEN SAID FOUR WALLS, AND FOLDED ALONG SCORE LINES TO FORM AT LEAST FOUR SIDE WALLS FOR SAID CARTON, ONE OF WHICH IS SECURED TO A SECOND ONE OF SAID WALLS OF SAID STRAW RETAINER MEANS, SAID SIDE WALLS BEING FOLDED ALONG SCORE LINES TO FORM A CLOSED BOTTOM WALL; AND A TOP COVER HAVING A 